Ross University School of Medicine hosts community health fair in Molineux

Some of the many residents who turned up for the free wellness screening offered by Ross University School of Medicine.Nurse Nelyssa Hutchinson (right) of the Mary Charles Hospital, with Dr. Nerelle Magloire of the Ross University School of Medicine.A resident undergoing a general vision screening.Dr. Yasmin Burnett (right) with faculty and staff of the Ross University School of Medicine.Some of the medical students who provided the free wellness screening at the Mary Charles Hospital.

Ross University School of Medicine hosts community health fair in Molineux

From PLP PR Media Inc.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Scores of residents in the Molineux District and from far afield received free wellness screening at a community health air Saturday. Organised by the Ross University School of Medicine, the health fair took place on grounds of the Mary Charles Hospital in Molineux. It was the second since the university relocated to St. Kitts last year from Dominica after the country was devastated by Hurricane Maria. A similar fair was held in April at the Pogson Hospital for the Sandy Point District by the institution that is currently operating from a satellite campus in Frigate Bay.

“The fair is a part of the training of the students, in that we have done the basic training with them, but now they get a chance to apply it to the patients in the community under supervision,” noted Dr. Yasmin Burnett, professor of clinical medicine and director of the Clinical Community Programme at the Ross University School of Medicine. “We partnered with the Ministry of Health team in Molineux, where we conducted general health screening for the patients in the catchment area for the Mary Charles Hospital.”

There were a number of stations under tents where patients underwent BMI, blood pressure, blood glucose and general vision screenings, as well as checking on the heart and lungs and patient education. The patients were also asked to give general information about chronic illnesses.

Medical students screened patients at the various stations, while the check-off was done by the university’s physicians, along with the Ministry of Health physicians and nurses. “At the end, we had our physicians who checked on the patients to explain to them what their results meant, and what they had to do afterwards,” said Burnett. “The fair is also part of giving back to the country, which is our philosophy because we want our students to grow with that responsibility. As an organisation, we recognise that we need to give back to the community that we are involved in.”

She talked highly of the hospitality they have so far received since they moved to St. Kitts in October last year. “I think we have adjusted now to St. Kitts,” she said. “St. Kitts is a very beautiful country – the Kittitians have been very welcoming to us, and accommodating to us to make us comfortable. Of course, you miss home, but I think we have made this our second home while we fix home.”

Nurse Nelyssa Hutchinson of the Mary Charles Hospital took advantage of the screening process, reporting that it had a good turn up. She described it as being a very good initiative by the Ross University School of Medicine, as it gave members of the public an opportunity to benefit from the medical students’ education, as well as to familiarise the students with the population.

The Mary Charles Hospital was refurbished and reopened in 2016 by the Team Unity government at a cost of nearly EC$1 million. Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Timothy Harris, who is also the local area parliamentary representative, was instrumental in ensuring that funds from the government and a number of private donors were available to modernise the health institution first built in 1986. At the reopening ceremony Aug. 31, 2016, Harris said “I feel a sense of relief that just 18 months after a Team Unity victory, we are here for a ceremony to hand over the renovated, re-tooled, as-good-as-brand-new facility called the Mary Charles Hospital.”